Under Debt of Rs 3.37 lakh crore, BJP-led MP Government Budget Pushes for Rural Development

Bhopal: With a budgetary allocation of Rs 120 crore for a jet plane, Rs 370 crore for a statue of Adi Shankaracharya, Rs 700 crore for expansion of Mahakal Temple and Rs 142 crore for treatment of animals at the doorstep, the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday presented the budget of Rs 2,79,237 crore in the Assembly amid ruckus.

This came when the state is under the debt of over Rs 3.37 lakh crore, which was Rs 2.95 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year. Finance Minister Jagdish Dewda sought the blessing of lord Ram to establish "Ram Rajya" in Madhya Pradesh while commencing his budget speech. Governor Mangubhai Patel also compared the BJP government with Ram Rajya while addressing the Assembly on the first day of the budget session on March 7.

As Dewda began his budget speech, the opposition Congress entered inside the well of the house opposing the budget by raising slogans like 'Sasti Daru Mehnga tale, yahi hai Shivraj ka khel' (Alcohol is cheaper than cooking oil, such is the governance of CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan). When the Finance Minister did not stop his budgetary speech even after an hour of protest and sloganeering, the Congress leader staged a walkout.

With an eye on impending panchayat polls, the budget saw a push to the rural infrastructure. Dewda targeted to provide over 10 lakh homes under PM Awas Yojna, construction of 4500 km new roads and Rs 6,300 crore for Nal Jal Yojna in villages but slashed the budget of urban development and housing department by 1%. He has also allocated Rs 1,443 crore towards the department of animal husbandry and dairying, a 35% hike compared to the previous year.

Dewda also increased the budgetary allocation of Self-Help Groups by 141%, the rural development department by 74% and the Panchayat department by another 36%.

"No new taxes will be imposed while there will be no changes in the existing ones," he said.

Dewda, who emphasised creating employment in his budget speech, only announced the recruitment of 13,000 school teachers and 6,000 police constables, which was already underway.

In a push towards self-employment, Dewda announced the formation of 'Rojgar Mulak Aarthik Sahayata' for providing financial assistance in employment creation for the youth belonging to Schedule Caste, Schedule Tribe, Other Backward Classes and minorities. The government, under this scheme, has allocated Rs 60 crores for ST, Rs 40 crore for SC and Rs 50 crores for OBC and Minorities. SC, ST, OBC and minorities accounted for over 90% of the state's population.

"A loan of Rs 14,556 crore has been distributed to 28.63 lakh people in a bid to provide financial assistance for the business," he said.

This comes after Economic Survey tabled on Tuesday highlighted that 30.23 lakh unemployed people have registered at the state's Rojgar portal, which is an increase of 24.72% compared to 24.72 lakh unemployment registration received in 2021-22.

For the first time, the state government has presented a 'child budget' with a provision of Rs 57,803 crore separately by merging over 202 policies of over 17 departments. Minister, however, did not divulge many details of the scheme.

Commenting over the budget, former Chief Minister and leader of opposition Kamal Nath said, "In Shivraj Government, milk and oil are costlier, and liquor is cheap. This is the real summary of the budget. It is a bundle of lies meant to misguide the people."

Commenting over the farmers' issues, he said, "Farmers are most distressed about but what they have done for farmers has not been specified. The shortage of fertilisers and seeds have no mention in the budget."

"Provisions have been made of only Rs 150 crore to provide employment to the youths of SC, ST, OBC and minority category, which is 85% of the state's population. Employees were demanding restoration of the old pension scheme, but it's being entirely ignored," he lamented.